Various subterranean formations contain hydrocarbon based fluids that can be produced to a surface location for collection. Generally, a wellbore is drilled, and a completion is moved downhole to facilitate production of desired fluids from the surrounding formation. In many applications, however, it is desirable to isolate regions of the wellbore from adjacent regions during certain procedures, e.g. production of well fluid, injection procedures, or other procedures.
A device commonly used to isolate regions of the wellbore is a packer. The packer is mounted in a wellbore completion, typically along the exterior of a tubing, and the packer can be actuated to seal off flow in the annulus between the tubing and a surrounding wall of the wellbore. The surrounding wall may be the wall of an open borehole, or the surrounding wall may be a wellbore casing or liner.
Packers use a seal element that is moved radially outward into sealing engagement with the surrounding wall. Typically, a mechanical actuator is used to move the seal element and thereby isolate one region of the wellbore from another. The mechanical actuation can be achieved by a mechanical linkage or by inflation of the seal element.